Darkness Shrouds Our Soul
by NinjaDino4
Summary: What will become of the filly named Flare as she uncovers what her strange power really is. The young pony must discover her seemingly harmless persona of being able to willingly transform into a dragon. Will her destiny be unchanged by her own will or can she overcome all odds to become what she wants to be at the end of the day.
1. Home Can Be Hell

Chapter 1: Home Can Be Hell

**Authors Note: Finally started to write this story. I kept saying I was going to do it, but never seemed to get around to it. Bear with me because I am also writing another story so I'm going to have to keep up with both at the same time. The first chapter is going to be from the point of view from my only main character, I'm not sure if I'll put in other points of view later. With that being said let's start this already! –NinjaDino4**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MLP, only this story and my characters.**

"Get back here freak!" A voice yelled far behind me.

"You can't run away from your destiny!" Another voice screamed.

"Don't make this harder than you have to!" Voices yelled at me.

I was getting completely tired from all the running. The trees blurred all around me as I ran as fast as I could. With no idea where I was heading it seemed there was no escape from the dozens of ponies chasing after me. My eyes caught a dead log that was big enough for me, but small enough to hide without getting caught. I jumped inside to avoid the angry mob. After a few minutes of hiding I heard hoofsteps of them walking past the log.

"Where'd she go?" One of them asked.

"I don't know, she couldn't have gotten too far considering she can't even fly."

"It's getting pretty late…no worries, Flare can't hide forever. Let's get back to the village."

All talking seized. The hoofsteps went away from my hiding spot until I could no longer hear anything. I poked my head out of the top to make sure nopony was near me. To my surprise they all left just like they said. I jumped out of the log continuing on my journey away from home. The eerie forest I was going through made me extremely nervous since I was a bit of a scaredy pony. It was getting dark and I was sleepy. My prayers were answered because I saw a cave not too far from where I was. Quickly I galloped off to the shelter hoping to get some sleep. It was too dark for me to see where I was going. I bumped into something which caused it to move. I backed up a bit thinking it was just a rock. Unfortunatly some light shed into the cave allowing me to see what it really was. Standing in front of me was a humongous monster. It was blue and had some white star shape on its head along with constellation dots on its tail and body.

"…Sorry is this your cave?..." I asked shyly hoping it wasn't mad at me.

I was completely wrong. It roared in my face so loud my mane blew back. Without a moment to spare I ran out whimpering. I looked back for a second to see that it was chasing after me.

"Great, first I'm chased by angry ponies then I'm chased by an angry beast." I mumbled running as fast as I could. I dodged trees and rocks. Jumping and weaving through obstacles I looked for any way out of the forest. The creature was still chasing not far behind.

To my advantage I saw a beam of light cut through not too far in front of me. With all my energy I pushed forward faster than before. The beast was still behind me, but was getting further out of sight. I broke through the entrance and kept going. Galloping with all my might I noticed that everything surrounding me seemed so peaceful.

I jumped into a nearby bush to make sure that the bear wasn't following me anymore. After a few minutes I realized I lost it sometime before I exited the thicket. With that observation I jumped out of the shrub. The area I was in had many bright colors and things I had never seen before. Trekking down a dirt path I stumbled upon a cottage. I didn't know if anypony was living there, but I did see a chicken coop. I figured that I would just leave before somepony noticed. Quietly I tip toed into the coop. All of the chickens were asleep and I wanted to keep it that way. I quickly passed out due to all the running I had to do today.

* * *

"Ah!" A pony yelped. This woke me up from my sleep.

"Wha, who's there?" I asked rubbing my head with my hoof. I glanced up looking at a yellow Pegasus who seemed pretty startled.

"What are you doing in my chicken coop?..." She whispered so quietly I could hardly hear. If I wasn't right next to her than I wouldn't have been able to make out what she said.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to trespass. It's just that I had a rough time yesterday. I didn't have a place to stay. That's when I found this cottage, I was going to leave before anypony found me, but I guess I was really tired…" I admitted looking at the ground in shame.

"Oh well, why don't you come in to my home and tell me about it. Maybe talking would make you feel better…If that's okay with you…" She replied sweetly gesturing me outside.

"Are you sure? I mean nopony ever wants to be around me…since I'm different." I mumbled sadly.

"Different? I don't think you're different. I promise I would never be mean like that."

"Really? I guess I can come in then. Lead the way."

I followed her inside the cottage. _'She is so nice, unlike the ponies in my village. They are just so cruel to me.'_ I thought to myself. When we walked inside I noticed there was a white animal sitting on a couch.

"Excuse me miss, but what's that?" I pointed toward the white creature.

"Call me Fluttershy. That's a bunny. Haven't you seen one before?" she asked me with a confused look on her face.

"No, I haven't seen anything like it. They never come towards my village, there's hardly anything good about it." I replied nonchalantly.

"Angel bunny could you please move?" She timidly asked the bunny.

He looked at her for a second, glanced at me then shook his head.

"Oh please Angel. Only for a little while."

He sighed then nodded and jumped off the couch hopping off somewhere else. We both sat on the couch and got comfortable.

"So what's your name?" She asked.

"I'm Flare. The only earth pony in my entire village."

"Is that why they see you as different?"

"No, nopony cares that I can't use magic or fly. Well at the moment I can't fly."

"At the moment? But earth ponies can't fly at all." She looked at me strangely.

"This is where I'm different. You have to promise me not to get scared. Can you do that?" I asked with a hint of sorrow in my tone.

"I promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She recited doing some weird gestures.

I gave her a strange look after she recited some oath.

"Oh it's um from one of my best friends, Pinkie Pie, who's oath is never to be broken."

I nodded still a bit confused, but proceeded to show her what I meant by different. I closed my eyes and was immediately surrounded by a blue mist that covered my entire body. The mist shortly immersed from me showing what was underneath. I opened my eyes and saw a shocked Fluttershy, which was the reaction I expected.

Normally I was a pink filly earth pony with a light blue mane and orange eyes, but on other occasions I was a pink baby dragon with light blue spikes, orange eyes and a pair of wings.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

No reply to my question.

"Fluttershy? Hello? Are you alright?"

She suddenly jumped in my face with eyes as big as the moon. "YOU'RE A BABY DRAGON?! This is so amazing!" She yelled with a smile as wide as a mile creeping upon her.

"Well yeah, that's why nopony likes me…because I'm different. I'm not entirely a pony, I can become a dragon at will."

"Why in Equestria would they act like that?"

"You mean you don't mind?"

"Of course not, I mean I love baby dragons. Wait, you said you lived in a village, but you had no place to stay last night. Why is that? You're only a little filly."

"Because I ran away." I stated coldly thinking back to what happened.

"Why would you do that?"

"Maybe it would be easier if I told you the whole story from the beginning."

* * *

_(Flashback)_

_I slowly walked inside my home with a glum look struck upon my face. My mother greeted me right when I came in the door._

"_How was school sweetie?" She asked noticing how down in the dumps I seemed._

"_Like every other day. It was bad; everypony makes fun of me for being different. It's just not fair. I didn't ask to be a freak…" I stated glaring at the ground._

"_Honey you're not a freak. You're special. Don't listen to those other ponies. I know it seems bad now, but one day you'll realize that it's okay to not be the same."_

"_I don't see that happening…I think I'm just going to sit in my room for now mom."_

_She sighed knowing that I had a hard life to live. If only there was something she could do._

_I trotted up to my room and hardly shut my door. I jumped up on my bed staring at the window. Looking up at the sky I wondered what I really was. _

"_Is being some mutant my destiny? Why can't I just be normal. Why doesn't anypony like me? Oh this is just so unfair. Dad, I wish you were here. Mom tries her hardest to make me feel better, but it never works. I need the both of you, I need you to be here with mom." I started to tear up and cry. This was day to day life for me. Wake up, go to school, get picked on, come home, cry and go to bed. Every single day it was a repeat of the last. _

"_She's not here, Flare never came home…" I heard a voice which was definitely my mothers, but couldn't make out what she said after that. I quietly tip toed to the top of the stairs to hear the conversation better. I positioned myself to where I could hear everything, but wouldn't be seen._

"_Look your daughter is different. She is the first one born in hundreds of years. You can't change what she's meant to become." A male voice stated._

"_She's not destined to be a monster. I'm not going to let you make her into something she's not." My mother harshly replied sounding angry._

"_It's not your decision. It's as simple as that. If you won't give her up then we are just going to take her by force. Like I said where is she?" _

"_I don't know, now please leave." She demanded._

_I felt a sneeze coming along. I put bit hoof in front of my muzzle to prevent any noise coming out. I lost all feeling of having to sneeze. I sighed in my mind wiping my forehead with my hoof._

"_ACHOO!" I fell down the stairs from the power of my sudden sneeze that came back. They all turned their attention towards me._

"_There she is, get her!" One yelled._

"_Uh oh." I said simply before jumping up on my hooves._

_My mother used her magic to hold them back for a minute._

"_Flare! Leave, now!" She screamed. I didn't hesiatate I bolted for the back door. I looked back and saw that a dozen troops were chasing after me._

"_You're going to be arrested for harboring your freak of a daughter and lying to us." One troop stated._

"_Mom!" I yelled before changing my direction towards her instead of the door. I managed to dodge the pegasi and bolt towards my mother. She was held down by a couple pegasi. She noticed I came back for her._

"_No Flare, go. I'll be fine. I promise. GO NOW!" She yelled in tears. Suddenly I was picked up by one of the ponies. _

"_Gotcha now." He said with a sick smile._

"_I don't think so." I replied before changing into dragon and blowing fire in his face._

_He dropped me on the ground allowing me time to escape. I turned back into a pony and ran away. I broke down in tears knowing my mom was in trouble because of me. Galloping as fast as I could I headed as far away from my village which was unnamed for some odd reason. After a few hours of being trailed I managed to find a forest. With no other way to lose the mob I ran off towards the unknown danger lurking inside._

* * *

"That's when I lost the group chasing after me. I managed to hide from them. It was pretty late so I found a cave to sleep in. Unfortunately for me there was a gigantic bear living there. I was chased all the way until I escaped from the forest."

"YOU WENT INTO THE EVERFREE FOREST?!" Fluttershy screamed in horror.

"Well yeah, is that bad?"

"The Everfree is only the most dangerous place near Ponyville." She whimpered looking pretty scared.

"That explains why it was so creepy looking in there. Anyways after that I slept in your chicken coop."

"That sounds like a terrible day." She said in sympathy.

"Yeah, the worst part was having to see my mom in tears knowing I couldn't do anything about it." I stated staring at the ground with my head hung low.

There was a knock on the door. I figured it was one of her friends so I didn't want to be seen as a dragon.

"I hope you don't mind, but could you not tell anypony about the whole dragon thing. I'd rather keep it a secret. I'm not exactly comfortable with it."

"Of course." She replied kindly with a smile.

Just as I turned back into a pony the door swung open. I didn't think anypony besides Fluttershy saw it, but I guess I was wrong. Something pinned me to the ground immediately.

"A changeling?! Don't worry Fluttershy I'll save you!" A cyan Pegasus yelled as she held me down. She was just about to punch me until Fluttershy grabbed her.

"Wait! Don't hurt her! She's not a changeling, Rainbow Dash." She explained to her friend.

"Are you serious? But she just changed into a pony from a dragon. I saw it with my own eyes." She stated using her hooves to point at her eyes.

"Should we tell her, Flare? I mean she already saw." Fluttershy said as if it were obvious that it was only fair I tell Rainbow Dash the truth.

"I guess…I mean you already saw what I am. Sit down and I'll explain everything."

I spent the last hour or so re-explaining everything I told Fluttershy to Rainbow Dash in an attempt to show her why I wasn't a changeling.

**Then everybody died because Flare was part dragon. No I'm kidding. However, Flare is most definitely not one of those stupid hybrid OC's with dragon eyes and wings or whatever. Imagine her going all American Dragon Jake Long. She can transform into one, not the same thing as those hybrids which I think look just awful.**


	2. Questions Left Unanswered

Chapter 2: Questions Left Unanswered

**Authors Note: Finally know where I'm going with this. I had an idea before, but I planned it out more than my other story at the moment. –NinjaDino4**

**Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony, Hasbro does. I only own this story and my characters.**

"So let me get this straight. You're from some village that was mean to you. When you came home from school these guards came knocking at your door. They wanted to take you from your mom. You ran off trying to escape them and went into the Everfree Forest. After that you slept in Fluttershy's chicken coop." Rainbow asked. I nodded my head assuring her that was the whole story. "AND YOU CAN TURN INTO A DRAGON?!" She yelled so loud my ears felt like they were going to burst.

"Um yes?" I answered quietly.

"That is so AWESOME!" She replied excitedly.

"But-but what if they find you?" Fluttershy asked very concerned.

"I can hide. I've been doing really well at that lately." I answered in pride.

"Why would you even need to hide? I mean sure you're part dragon. It's pretty cool, but why would some ponies want to take you over it?" Rainbow asked in confusion.

"I can't really answer that… Honestly I don't even know why I can turn into one." I shrugged trying to wrap my head around it.

"Um maybe Twilight will know something about this. She does read a lot of books…" Fluttershy offered.

"Who's Twilight?" I asked.

"Our friend Twilight's the local egg head. She lives in the library in Ponyville." Rainbow answered.

"Egg head?" I replied.

"Ya know, like she's more into studying and stuff." Rainbow said.

"I don't know…what if I find out more than I'd like to know?" I asked in fear.

"But how will you find out more about yourself unless you try?" Rainbow nudged me.

"Okay I get that, but I'm just a little scared finding out the truth…" I admitted to them both.

"We both understand how you feel, Flare. If you don't want to do this then we won't make you." Fluttershy said in a gentle tone.

"Are you serious?! But this could be her big chance!" Rainbow argued then caught herself. "I mean yeah, you don't have to do it."

I sighed then gave the idea a thought. Sure I was scared, but it would be nice to know more about the dragon half in me. "Okay, I'll do it. But when I say no more, I expect the subject to be dropped. Deal?" I asked.

"Deal!" They both answered in unison.

The three of us left the cottage heading towards the library for more answers about my mysterious background.

/

I was face to face with Golden Oaks Library. My stomach did a flip from me being nervous. I wanted to run away and never look back, but I didn't want to go back on my word.

"So this is it?" I asked nervously.

"Yes, you don't need to be worried. Me and Rainbow Dash will be right by your side the whole time." Fluttershy replied allowing me to calm down a bit.

"Yep, what she said." Rainbow said knocking on the door.

"Come in!" A voice yelled from the inside.

Walking in the door I became shocked at the mess awaiting the three of us. There were tons of book all over the floor cluttering up most of the area.

"Um what's with the mess?" I asked quizzically.

"I'm so sorry; I just finished a crazy study session." The purple unicorn apologized. She took her eyes off the books she was putting away giving her a moments glance at us. "Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, so nice to see you two. Who's the little one?"

"Hello Twilight, this is Flare." Fluttershy announced.

"Nice to meet you, Flare. So is there anything you three need?" Twilight asked as she continued cleaning.

"Yeah, we were wondering if you knew anything about-" Rainbow started saying until she was cut off.

"ANOTHER DRAGON?!" I screamed as a purple dragon with green spikes walked into the room. "This is just so amazing! So you can morph into one too?!" I asked in excitement.

"Morph?" He said as a confused look crept on his face.

"Um what is she talking about?" Twilight asked becoming a bit curious.

"Wait…so you're just a regular dragon?" I quietly replied feeling a bit foolish.

"Well yeah? There's a different kind of dragon?" He said still confused.

"No, no, no, no. I was just um kidding. Ha ha, yeah a joke." I chuckled nervously.

"Okay?" He replied walking over to Twilight helping her put the books away.

"Like I was saying, we need to know if you have any information on dragons." Rainbow asked trying to move the conversation in a different direction.

"Hmm…I'm sure we could find something about dragons." She replied smiling at the opportunity that encouraged Rainbow to read something historical.

\

"I can't believe it…We've searched the entire library for anything about dragons. There's absolutely nothing about them in any of these books." Twilight gasped in shock.

"Bu-but…there's gotta be! There has to! I need to know something, anything about them." I said in disbelief over the lack of information.

"How can that be? There's absolutely nothing about them anywhere?" Fluttershy asked giving me the saddest look ever.

"Maybe we didn't look hard enough! I'm sure we just overlooked something." Rainbow insisted trying not to give up.

"No…there was nothing. I'm sure of it. Oh well, maybe I should just forget about this whole thing. I'll never get the answers I'm looking for." I sighed about to walk out of the tree home.

"Answers? Well, what's the question?" Twilight asked curiously.

"I don't think you want to know." I mumbled just loud enough for her to hear.

"I love learning new things! Of course I want to know!" She replied with joy.

"Are you sure?" I asked double checking her answer.

"Yes! I'm absolutely sure." She beamed with enthusiasm.

I walked over to Fluttershy and whispered in her ear. "Can I trust her and the dragon?"

"Oh yes, Twilight Sparkle is very trustworthy. Spike is as well." She whispered back.

I gave Twilight a very hard look, glanced around the whole library, and then shut the curtains on all the nearby windows.

Figuring it would be more effective to show her rather than explain everything I prepared myself for any reaction she and the dragon would have. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to turn into my dragon form. Opening my eyes I saw a jaw dropped dragon and one very shocked unicorn.

"You're a dra-dra-dragon?" Spike asked in utter disbelief.

"Yes…well...I can become one at will. Most of the time I'd rather be a pony." I answered back.

"Uh I think you broke Twilight, Flare." Rainbow stated. I looked over and saw that she had become unresponsive. Rainbow was hovering in the air and poking her body trying to get her to snap out of the trance she was in.

"It's not possible…" I heard her mutter under her breath.

"Of course it is. I'm standing right here?" I replied.

"BUT THAT MAKES NO SENSE! None of it. That can't be physically possible. There's no science behind any of this. How can you even do that?! I've never heard about anything like this…" She said then trailed off saying some more things, which I tuned out because it was irrelevant to me.

"I heard something from one of the guards before I ran away from home. I'm not sure it'll help, but he said that it happened a few hundred years ago. Apparently I'm the first one born in a long time." I explained hoping this would be enough for her.

"Maybe the princess knows something about it, Twilight? I mean she is over one thousand years old." Spike offered.

Twilight gasped at the idea. "Spike! You're a genius. Get some paper and a quill."

"You got it boss!" He said running off to go fetch the supplies. Seconds later he ran back in the room with both items. With the quill in one claw and the paper in the other he was ready to write.

"Take a letter." Twilight started.

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_I have a very important question to ask you. It is in regards to past ponies having the mysterious power to turn into dragons. I hope that you can shed some light on this topic._

_Your Faithful Student,_

_Twilight Sparkle_

"Short and to the point." I said as I watched Spike blow fire on the rolled up scroll, sending it away.

"I do hope the Princess knows something about all of this." Fluttershy exclaimed.

Before anypony could say another thing a bright light flashed in the library. From the light a white royal looking pony emerged.

"Princess Celestia." They all said in unison bowing. I had never met a pony like her so I had no clue what to do. I followed suit and bowed along with them. From the corner of my eyes I saw them start to rise, therefor I mimicked their movement.

"I read your letter and came as soon as possible." The magnificent pony stated.

"I have a question." I said making my appearance known.

"What is it, child?" She asked nicely, yet I couldn't help shake the feeling she was staring at me with a certain fear.

"Why do you have a horn and wings?" I asked feeling confused as I looked at her.

"I am an alicorn." She simply stated.

"Sorry, doesn't ring a bell…I've heard of you raising the sun, but never heard you were an alicorn. I just assumed you were a unicorn." I replied.

"It is alright, nothing to fret over." She moved her head over to Twilight. "In your letter you said that you needed a question answered."

"Yes, but it was my question." I said stepping forward.

"Oh, well what is it?"

"I need to know about ponies morphing into dragons in the past. Do you know anything? Please don't tell me there is no such thing. I know there has been and I know they exist."

"Tell me, how much do you know?" She asked peering into my eyes.

"Enough to know I'm one." I replied turning myself back into a pony. The Princess just stared at me. She kept her mouth shut for a few moments before speaking again.

"I see. If there is anything I can think of I will send a letter. Goodbye, my little ponies." She said teleporting out of the room.

"Even the Princess didn't know anything…" Twilight sighed at all the unknown.

"Well that was a big letdown." Rainbow exclaimed.

"Maybe she will come up with something." Fluttershy said trying to bring our hopes up.

"Yeah…maybe…" I replied. Something about her just didn't seem right. It felt like she knew about this whole situation, but for some reason kept it a secret from us. I needed to keep a close eye on her.

"Don't worry girls! She's really smart, I'm sure it'll come to her eventually!" Spike said happily.

"Um Twilight?" I asked.

"Yes, Flare?" She replied.

"Do you think it's okay if I stay here? I would really love to get to know Spike. I mean he is a dragon. I've never met one before, plus you have all these books. I'm sure I'll learn so many things here." I explained hoping she would say yes.

"Of course! That sounds like a great idea." She said happily.

"Yeah, that seems awesome." Spike smiled at the idea.

"Hmm…" Twilight said going into a deep thought.

"Are you okay?" I asked waving a hoof in front of her face.

"Oh yes, I just got an idea. The thing is, you are still a filly. It would seem pretty strange if you didn't participate in going." She stated.

"Participate in what?" I asked clueless.

"School." She replied bringing back awful memories for me.

"WHAT!?" I screamed in shock at her statement.

**Then she died. Again, kidding. Oh how fun, I'm going to have joy writing about that. Damn school, it brings misfortune to even ponies. Well at least this one.**


End file.
